Aussie historian, author & entertainer Jim Haynes joins Overnight each week for his unique knowledge of the not-so-famous characters from Australia’s history. This week Jim shines the spotlight on Jules Francois De Sales Joubert – The Frenchman Who Put On A Show

The first Easter Agricultural Show was held in 1823 at Parramatta. Organised by the newly formed Agricultural Society of New South Wales, established under the patronage of Governor Brisbane who also set up an agricultural training college and encouraged the importing of livestock.

The aim of the show was to encourage the colony’s rural industries to improve and develop by providing displays and competitions for farm produce, horses, cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry and it continued to be held at Parramatta until 1869, when it moved to Prince Alfred Park, in Redfern, near the edge of the city. At this time sideshows and other entertainments were added to the event.

This move was the brainchild of a remarkable Frenchman, adventurer and entrepreneur, Jules Francois De Sales Joubert, who was born in 1824 in Angouleme, France, and educated in Bordeaux and at the College Bourbon, Paris.

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